


Into the Ocean

by 6YearsABrave



Series: Into the Ocean [1]
Category: Baseball RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: 2014, Alternate Universe, Atlanta Braves, Funeral, Island - Freeform, Multi, Shipwreck, Smoking, Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 10:24:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6750109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/6YearsABrave/pseuds/6YearsABrave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Braves are shipwrecked on a tiny island in the Atlantic some time in 2014. What follows is an entirely new life and family for them all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into the Ocean

The boat was approaching an island, and Fredi Gonzalez knew it. “Land ho!” He shouted. Jason Heyward, the team leader, who was at the helm, prepared to come about.

Just then Freddie Freeman, his husband, appeared behind him. “Jason!” He yelled.

“Wha-” Jason stammered, seriously startled. He lost control of the helm, now spinning wildly out of control. There was a loud shout as the whole boat rocked to its side and half the team was shaken across the deck. Fredi’s feet went right out from under him. 

“Whoa!!” Freddie yelled, reaching out and grabbing hold of Jason’s leg as he fell to the deck, flailing along with him. 

A huge wave of water washed toward the upcoming island ahead of the boat. It was about to tip itself. 

The Braves started to scream as the G-forces pressed them all against the short wall on the edge of the deck. They didn’t see them, but there were huge sharp rocks coming up, jutting out of the water, and they were headed right toward them. 

There was one last loud shout, and then they hit the rocks, water splashing everywhere and on everything as the front end of the boat was splintered in on itself. Braves randomly clung to one another as they tried to heave themselves up over the edge of the boat. 

Soon the boat did tip and all the Braves were thrown into the water. Luckily, they were close enough to shore to swim safely to the island. 

It was several minutes before all the Braves – or, seemingly all the Braves – reached the sandy beach, coughing up water and lying on the sand, exhausted. No one said anything until Jason Heyward sat up, from underneath Freddie Freeman, with a heave and said, “Hey…where’s skip?”

Everyone looked for Fredi Gonzalez, but he wasn’t on the beach.

“Yeah…and where are Schlosser and Walden?”

“And where’s BJ?”

Slowly, everyone stood up. Several of them were missing. They looked out to sea. The boat was now nothing but shards floating on the surface of the waves about a hundred feet away among the rocks. 

“I guess they didn’t make it,” Jason said in a sad tone. Freddie put his arms around him.

The other Braves got together and started looking around. There were lots of trees, some with flowers, some without, some palm trees with coconuts. Craig Kimbrel went up to one of the fruits and pulled it down with some help from Mike Minor. Then he threw it as hard as he could against the trunk of another tree, and it split in half, juice running into the sand.

“Oooh!” Jordan Schafer shouted, running to it and picking up one of the halves. He smelled it, then licked the white juice. “It’s good!”

“Let me try it,” said Chris Johnson, who picked up the other half. “Aw, you’re right!”

“I should get in the shade,” Freddie said to Jason, heading for the cover of the trees with him. 

“What are we going to do here?” Alex Wood asked, worried. “Skip’s gone.”

David Carpenter stood near him. “Don’t worry about it, Alex,” he said calmly. He put a wet hand on the younger starter’s shoulder, and Alex smiled at him warmly.

Near the shoreline Jonny Venters started throwing wet globs of sand at his husband, Craig, and laughing. Julio Teheran and Ervin Santana joined them, and Craig tried to fend them all off with sand-balls of his own, to no avail. Brandon Beachy helped Craig out until they were all tired out of their little battle. 

Some of them noticed themselves getting hot and sunburned so they headed for the cover of the trees to do some exploring, following Jason and Freddie. As they waded through the dense undergrowth and navigated the plants in the shade, Gerald Laird caught up with Julio. 

“Julio,” the catcher said to the young pitcher, panting. “How’s it going?”

Julio glanced over at him, wary. “Fine.”

They walked a few more careful steps. “Need a partner?” Gerald asked.

“Don’t think so.”

“Sure about that? It’s a big, bad jungle out there.”

“I’ll be okay.”

Julio didn’t look at Gerald, but Gerald looked at him. A little intently. “Alright,” Gerald said, not giving up as he ran up ahead to join the others. 

 

The large group headed further and further inland, whispering and chattering among themselves about what to do now that Fredi Gonzalez was gone. Staying close together, Freddie and Jason led the group until they got to a clearing.

Jason said quietly to them all, “Guys…let me go see first. I’ll be right back or signal that it’s safe.”

Everyone agreed, and Jason ventured out.

It was a shady, sandy, well-kept yard, and up ahead, there was a shelter made of tree trunks, stones, dried clay and mud. There was better shade underneath some palms set up like a patio next to the shelter, and what appeared to be a fire pit and a well. 

Jason walked out into the yard, but no one was there. He looked on either side of the shelter. Still seeing no one, he signaled for all the others to join him.

They all got a good look at the peaceful little place, which was quiet except for the soothing breeze blowing through the branches of the trees. As they were looking around, suddenly the door of the shelter burst open and an older-looking man with a popgun appeared. 

All the Braves jumped back, raising their arms and getting closer together. The strange man was very tan with long, dark gray hair and wore leather skins and sandals. “Who y’all?” He huffed. He appeared to be in his fifties or so.

“We’re lost,” Jason said. “Shipwrecked on the beach. We were exploring.”

“Exploring, eh?” The man said. He looked back. There was laughter behind him.

Suddenly in the doorway an excited, cute young girl appeared, who was probably no older than eighteen or nineteen. Her hair was short, messy, rusty red, and she appeared to be quite sunburned since she had much fairer skin. “Have they come to visit us, Amos?”

“We’ll see,” the gruff older man, Amos, replied. “What is it y’all need?”

“Uh…” Jason muttered.

“We need a place to stay,” Andrelton Simmons put in, coming to the front, “a place to sleep.”

“And some food,” Jonny added.

Amos laughed, a harsh, gravelly sound. “All of y’all? Here?” The girl with him also giggled. “I don’t think so.”

“Then how are we going to survive out here?” Freddie asked.

“You’re stranded?” The girl asked, surprised.

“Yes,” Jason answered. “And it looks like we’re going to have to survive on our own here. There’s twenty-three of us. It’ll be real hard. Our leader…is dead.”

The girl gasped. “Oh, we have to help them, Amos!” She tugged on his arm.

Amos made an exasperated sound, shrugging her off. “Oh, I guess we can help them,” he said reluctantly. “But they can’t all sleep in our house.”

The girl turned back to the group, excited. “I’m Bubba,” she said to them all. “Bubba Ivory.”

Each Brave said his name. Then Bubba introduced the man with her, “This is Amos Mosquito.”

“Y’all are gonna need a place of your own,” Amos said. “Or maybe a bunch of little places, if you can live in groups.”

“We could do that,” Jason replied. “How did you make your house?”

“Easy.” Amos came out of the doorway, setting his popgun to the side, to the team’s relief. He gestured to the roof. “The roof is a bunch of palm tree trunks glued together with dried mud and the shades of palm leaves. You can set up lots of sticks, branches, and little tree trunks together to make the walls of the house, then just set the roof on top and tie it with leaf-strings.”

“That sounds like lots of work,” Jonny said.

“If we work together…” Craig nudged him.

Jonny shrugged. “I guess it’ll be alright.”

 

Construction began on the Braves’ new island community that day. But later in the evening, a memorial was set up for Fredi Gonzalez and the other Braves that didn’t survive the landing.

All the Braves, and also Bubba and Amos, gathered on the beach that night around a mound of stones with flowers on top and a candle. The moon shone on them all as they looked on in silence.

Alex held onto David, and David took him closer in a hug. David gently kissed Alex’s forehead as he closed his eyes.

A tear streamed down Alex’s cheek and dripped onto David’s neck. David pulled back and looked at Alex’s sad face. He wiped the moisture off Alex’s cheek with a thumb and kissed his lips gently and firmly. They hugged again.

 

They all slept under the stars the previous night, but the next day, construction began for real, and everyone lent a hand, even Amos and Bubba.

Ramiro Pena and Ervin Santana were working together on attaching two branches together when they noticed something. “Hey, where are Jordan and Tyler?”

Jordan Schafer and Tyler Pastornicky were nowhere to be seen in the clearing where all the construction was taking place. The four of them were planning to lodge together. 

“Oh well,” Ervin said, optimistic as ever. “I’m sure they’ll turn up at some point.”

 

“I’m tellin’ you, Rev, it looks great!”

“I’m still not so sure, Jordan.”

Jordan held up a dark green leaf in front of Tyler. Nearby there was a small fire. Tyler had gotten high with Jordan before, but it was always something tried and true.

“You don’t even know what that is.”

“Come on,” the older bench player insisted. “It’ll be fine.” He went to the fire, rolling up the weed in another leaf, and lit it. He put it to his mouth.

He beamed. “Mmmm,” he said, inhaling deeply and closing his eyes. “Mmmmm!” He started to blindly sway back and forth a little. Tyler glanced around, starting to get concerned. No one else was near them. The mysterious-looking joint sizzled and smoked, and Tyler coughed.

Suddenly without warning Jordan fell backward and landed sitting down. “Ughh,” he moaned, falling back to his back.

“Jordan!” Tyler gasped, surprised, and ran to him. Kneeling by him, he pulled the joint out of Jordan’s grasp and snuffed it, throwing it away. He supported Jordan’s neck. “Jordan, answer me!”

Jordan made another faint moan, but otherwise, didn’t respond. His limp hands shook when Tyler took them in his own.

“Jordan!”

Tyler forgot how long he sat there with Jordan’s head in his lap as he waited. Jordan made cringing faces like he was in pain, and gasped for air at times. It was too long, in Tyler’s opinion, and the sun had moved a considerable distance in the sky when Jordan coughed and sat up, rubbing his head.

“Jordan, are you alright?”

“Wha? I’m…I’m fine,” he said groggily.

“Don’t smoke that again!”

“There’s more?” Jordan cried, scrambling to his feet.

“No!” Tyler stood and pulled him back close to him. “There’s no more!”

“I’ve got to have more!”

“We’ve gotta go back to camp!”

 

Julio tried over and over to get these two branches tied together, but to no avail, and the more he tried, the more frustrated he became. His other bunkmates, including Andrelton Simmons, had gone off to get water to wet the sand with, leaving him alone.

A string slipped between his sweaty fingers and fell to the ground. When he looked down for it, he was surprised to see Gerald Laird holding it out to him, a grin crossing his face.

“Thanks,” Julio muttered, carefully taking the string without touching Gerald’s hand.

“No problem,” Gerald said in a quiet tone, not taking his eyes off Julio. Julio watched him warily, as he always did, thoughts churning through his head as he observed the catcher. 

Gerald didn’t go away. Julio thought better of keeping his troubles to himself, even though he certainly didn’t trust Gerald one bit. “What is it you want from me?” He blurted.

Gerald looked at him like he had two heads. “Want from you?” He asked innocently. “I don’t…want anything from you.” He came closer, and Julio tried his very hardest not to flinch. He dropped his eyes. “I…need something from you.” He took Julio’s wrists in his hands, and Julio somehow resisted the urge to recoil. Julio’s hands started to shake, however, to the point where he dropped the branches he was holding.

“What?” Julio whispered quietly, his lungs empty, unable to breathe.

Gerald only smiled at him devilishly. When Julio summoned the courage to look back up at him, he abruptly tried to pull one of his hands away, but not before Gerald made a quick move to spin around behind him and pin Julio’s wrists to his back.

Julio grunted, unable to loosen Gerald’s hold on him. “What is it?” He growled.

Gerald laughed under his breath. “It’s…you.” Gerald pressed his cheek to the side of Julio’s head, sniffing his neck and nosing his ear. Julio struggled. 

“This isn’t right,” Julio said angrily. “Leave me alone!”

Gerald sucked in his breath, not taking his cheek from Julio. “Or what?”

“Or I’ll scream.”

Gerald pretended to chuckle, amused. He loosened his grip on Julio’s wrists begrudgingly and the young pitcher writhed free, starting to walk, then run away.

Gerald stood there alone and sighed.

 

As soon as Julio got back to construction camp he took a deep breath and immediately joined his bunkmates in the hard work. He listened to his bunkmates closely, taking acute interest in their petty conversation, so he’d be distracted and forget about Gerald and what just happened.

No one took a particular interest in him, which sort of dismayed him. His eyes wandered across the sandy clearing.

 

“You can just tie it,” Bubba Ivory said nonchalantly to Gavin Floyd as he mixed up some wet sand and clay in a hole in the ground.

“I don’t think so,” Gavin replied. His stirring stick broke. “Aw, dammit.”

“See? Try this,” Bubba said, handing him a long, green piece of twine. 

Gavin tried to get it around both branches he was trying to attach, but the twine was too smooth and wouldn’t firmly hold. The knot kept slipping undone.

Gavin playfully made an ‘I-told-you-so’ face and got back to his clay mixing hole.

“That’s funny,” Bubba said. “That worked on some other branches.”

“Do you want to try it again?” Gavin asked.

“Nah,” Bubba replied. “I don’t do much of the building work. But if you really want me to-”

“I’m just saying, since you’re the one who suggested it.”

“It’s alright. That’ll probably work.” She motioned to the mixing hole. The clay was starting to dry. Gavin shrugged as he scooped some out and slathered it onto the two branches. To his surprise, Bubba put in a hand and helped him smooth it out to mold it over the intersection. 

“Thanks,” he said with a gentle smile.

“No problem.” Bubba grabbed a couple more sticks. “Do these need to go on too?”

“Yeah, actually.”

Bubba got to mixing the clay and sand herself. “Well?” She said to Gavin. “Isn’t there something else that needs to be done?”

“Uh, yeah,” Gavin said, caught off guard. He ran off to the rest of his bunkmates to see if any of them needed help.

 

Tyler Pastornicky woke up while it was still dark in his bunk. He blinked his eyes, getting accustomed to the darkness, and looked around the shelter. There were two bodies sleeping near him, and there were supposed to be three.

Tyler sat up, alarmed, then got to his hands and knees. Squinting his eyes, he made out the faces of Ervin Santana and Ramiro Pena.

Jordan was out causing trouble.

Tyler went outside quickly and quietly. What had happened a couple of days before flashed through his mind over and over. _I’ve got to have more_ …

Tyler scanned the scene. He could barely make out a glow in the distance among the trees. He headed straight for it, first jogging, then running full speed. He smelled the fire after about a minute, and saw a lone form in its light not long after.

Jordan Schafer stood leaning against a tree, holding a dark green joint between his fingers. His eyes were closed, his head leaned back, and he looked absolutely relaxed and peaceful.

“Jordan!” Tyler blurted, but Jordan didn’t hear – or maybe chose not to. 

The smoke Jordan slowly breathed out wafted all around him, clouding his face, as if he were in his own little world, which he was. A moment passed. Tyler just stood there, waiting for Jordan to reply, but was disappointed.

“Come on,” Tyler growled, upset. He put out the little fire, then went to Jordan and pulled his arm roughly away from the tree and back in the direction of camp. Jordan stumbled along, not looking anywhere, but Tyler could tell his consciousness was still there, for the most part, and quickened his pace as he thought of the terrible crash that was inevitably coming. 

They got back to camp, all the other sleeping Braves totally unsuspecting of what Jordan had been up to. By that time Jordan was very slumped over in Tyler’s arms, and Tyler struggled to hold him upright. A minute later after more of Tyler trying to bring him back to reality, Jordan collapsed to the ground. 

“No!” Tyler whimpered, feeling horribly helpless. He could tell Jordan was borderline-unconscious, as his hands shook and his face contorted in pain. Tyler only did what he could and accommodated him by fixing him to lie down on his back. He put a large, crumpled leaf under his head to serve as a pillow. He massaged Jordan’s forehead and tried to still his hands, but it was no use. 

Tyler could tell even in the dimness that Jordan was turning quite pale. Sweat ran down the sides of his face, soaking his hair. His breathing became slowly shallower as the minutes passed. 

There was nothing Tyler could do. So he went to Jason Heyward’s bunk and woke him up.

Jason went out to Jordan as soon as Tyler explained what was happening. He hurried out, then went to wake up Amos. Bubba followed, as well as Freddie Freeman and Justin Upton. 

“What was he doin’? What did he eat?” Amos asked after taking one look at the sick Brave.

“He was smoking this,” Tyler said, holding up the previously-snuffed joint that Jordan had dropped.

Amos peeled it apart and took one look at it. “I’m afraid he’s a goner,” he said quietly.

“No,” Tyler said quietly. “Isn’t there something you can do?”

“Get something cool for his head and hands,” Amos said. Several other Braves drifted out of their shelters, including Gavin Floyd. “All we can do is make him comfortable now.” Bubba went to Gavin and took his hand, obviously afraid. Gavin squeezed it without looking at her.

“Why is that going to kill him?” Jason asked.

“It’s too addictive and too powerful a drug,” Amos explained. “Three or four uses and the crash will be too much for anybody to handle. This stuff’s wild. It ain’t made its way to society, thank goodness. It’s good for nothin’.”

“Jordan!” Chris Johnson said worriedly, coming up to kneel by Jordan’s side. He pressed the cold leaves up on his forehead gently and massaged him. 

At that Jordan seemed to gain feeling a little. His eyes squinted open a bit to the point where he could make out Johnson’s face. 

“Johnson.” The name was forced out with effort, but Jordan clung to it for life.

“Oh, Jordan.” Johnson took one of his hands with urgency and held it still and tight. “Why?”

“I couldn’t…stop.”

Johnson sighed as he looked him over. His body looked very frail, and his lips were pale. Johnson looked at them for a moment.

“Jordan,” Johnson said quietly so only Jordan could hear, “I’m sorry, I…just want to say you…were special to me, despite everything…it shouldn’t be this way!”

Jordan coughed, and Johnson squeezed his eyes closed. He swallowed painfully. “Thanks.” Jordan’s face was quickly paling, and his eyes became darker as his breathing became shallower.

“Jordan, I can’t watch you go like this!...I’m sorry!” Overcome, Johnson leaned down over Jordan and kissed his pale lips in earnest, not caring for the consequences of his own health. 

It was the last happy moment in Jordan Schafer’s life. 

The sun rose.

 

Later that afternoon, twenty-two Braves and the two natives all stood on the beach in the rain around a grave and a memorial. 

Jason Heyward came forward. “We’re gathered here to remember you as you were, Jordan, and to forgive you for the wrong you unknowingly did.” Everyone’s face was solemn. “We know you didn’t mean to leave us so quickly. You will be missed.” 

Alex Wood thought he might cry for a second, so he put his face into David Carpenter’s shoulder as Jason went on, “You were a good backup and always gave a hundred and ten percent…”

The rain came down a little harder. Thunder boomed in the distance. Jordan’s grave was a slightly raised mound of evenly placed stones in an oval shape. At the top of the mound was a bunch of flowers, picked by Johnson.

“If anyone else would like to add anything of their own, go ahead.” Jason stepped back into the group.

Johnson, predictably, came forward. “You were…” He wiped his nose. “Jordan, you were special…to me. You were one of my greatest friends, like I told you before as you lay there, helpless, when you didn’t deserve it. I’ve always been selfish, but I couldn’t be selfish around you. You were…” Johnson sucked in his breath. “I still can’t believe it,” he said to himself quietly, attempting to wipe his face again. The good thing about the rain was that it appeared everyone was crying, whether they were or not, and none of them felt ashamed. “You were like a brother to me in the end, and now a part of me will be missing forever.”

Tyler Pastornicky stepped up. “I also would like to say goodbye,” he said, not bothering to wipe his face, which was soaked. “You were a good friend to me, Jordan, and I’ll miss you…I’ll miss you always being there. It shouldn’t have had to end like this.” 

 

Julio felt he needed to be alone.

He loved going out to the edge of camp, just a little bit into the trees, where the underbrush wasn’t quite so dense, to just stand or sit there and take the forest in. No chattering or gossiping out here. Only Julio and Julio’s concerns…and the trees and birds.

Julio went out to his favorite tree. It had white and orange blossoms all over it, and it was about thirty feet tall, so Julio couldn’t even see the top. But it did shade him well, and it was quite beautiful. 

Jordan’s funeral had hit him hard. He’d never lost anyone like that, so suddenly, someone so full of life, it seemed. It made the world seem so much more fragile to him, that nothing was certain, that there were no promises, and it made him sad. It hit him harder than the impact of the shipwreck.

The sky was still dark, as it was later in the evening now, and the trees dripped, but the rain had mostly calmed to a sprinkle. It couldn’t have been described as anything but peaceful. The only thing that could have made it better was a rainbow. 

Julio heard footsteps not far off. He looked in their direction and saw someone coming. 

“Hey Julio,” Gerald Laird said as he approached. “You alright?”

Julio looked at Gerald, then stared at the ground. “What does it matter?”

Gerald sighed. “You can’t let it get to you too much…No one knew. It was no one’s fault.” Without Julio looking, Gerald came closer – much closer. “It’ll be alright.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that.” Julio’s voice was quiet.

Gerald didn’t take his eyes off Julio. “You know what?” He said under his breath. “I daresay you need a little…fixing up.”

Julio looked up at Gerald just in time to see Gerald’s hand coming at his face and clamping over his mouth. Julio stumbled unexpectedly backward against the tree and just stared at Gerald.

He tried to pry Gerald’s hand off his face but couldn’t. The catcher had an iron grip. “Now,” Gerald said menacingly with an aura of power, “I’ve got you.” His face inched closer. “Now, you’ll do what I say.”

 

David Carpenter and Alex Wood had left the funeral together. Alex had been hit quite hard by the suddenness of it, just as he had after the shipwreck. He was more grateful than anything for David, and it would have been so much harder to cope without him. 

They walked back to their shelter, avoiding puddles together, trying to get some sense of sanity back. The funeral was dark and depressing enough for TV, much less for losing someone close in real life. 

Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters sat together in their shelter, brooding on everything that had happened. Looking at them, David decided he wanted to cheer up Alex himself. He knew that this awful mood around them all would not be what Jordan would have wanted.

“Come on, Alex,” he said quietly. “I know a place we can go.”

He was planning on taking the younger pitcher to a place just outside camp, where there was a beautiful tree that had colorful blossoms. As the rain tapered off to a sprinkle, David knew it would be a beacon of hope for them in this dark time. 

David and Alex approached the special tree to hear the sounds of an isolated struggle. David went preemptively forward in front of Alex, and saw Gerald Laird and Julio Teheran engaged in what appeared to be an assault.

David was shocked, but sprang into action quickly. Julio sat on the ground with his back against the tree, struggling, as Gerald tried to restrain him and get closer. 

“What are you doing?” David cried as he went for Gerald and tried to pull him off Julio. Gerald retaliated by attacking David, and as Alex came closer, Gerald also yanked his leg and pulled him to the somewhat slippery, wet ground. 

As they struggled there Julio got his bearings back, being freed from Gerald’s clutches, and sprang forward to try to help David and Alex. Gerald lashed out at all three of them, hands and feet, not caring for his own safety or the other three Braves. David could remember from their baseball days hearing about a fight between Gerald and Yadier Molina, who used to be teammates at the time, so Gerald did indeed have a history of getting into it with his own teammates. 

He reflected on this as he swerved away from Gerald’s furious blows. All of them still battling it out on the ground, Gerald managed to land a punch at Alex’s chest before David could stop him and Alex could get away.

That did anger David quite a bit, so much that he attacked Gerald fiercely, getting on top of him, and trying to pin his arms to the ground. Gerald retaliated by struggling and trying to kick David off him, and they rolled over each other several times as the struggle for supremacy continued. Gerald landed a blow on David’s cheek that left a streak of blood, and David managed to hit Gerald on the side of the head once.

They rolled over and over each other, their still-wet skin constantly slipping as the light mist of rain still fell, Alex and Julio trying their hardest to help David but proving unsuccessful. David finally retrieved from the ground a sharp rock, ironically about the size of a baseball. Gerald tried to grab David’s wrist and get it from him, but David was too angry and fired up. After one more blow from Gerald David lashed out at him with it and, while on top of the catcher, smashed the sharp side of it as hard as he could to the side of Gerald’s head. 

Gerald immediately started to bleed profusely as he lay there, helpless, on his back. He stopped attacking David and only looked around. David, meanwhile, fell exhausted to the side.

“David!” Alex cried, going to him on his knees. “Are you alright?”

“Ugh,” David moaned. “I think so.” He reached up to take Alex’s hand.

Gerald, however, didn’t make a sound. Nothing was being done, and nothing could have been done, to stop the flow of blood from the side of his head. His vision started flickering, and only seconds later, he found he couldn’t move. His head fell to the side, soaking the ground dark crimson, and the last person he saw was Julio staring back at him with a blank face.

 

Alex squeezed David’s hand desperately. “Thank god!” He sighed, relieved.

David took a deep breath and tried to regain his bearings as he lay there, looking up at Alex. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Alex told him. “Never been better.” Alex’s big, blue eyes shone above David, and David found he could have lay there beneath him forever.

He paused before whispering, “Do you want to get married?”

A big, gorgeous smile swept over Alex’s youthful face. He beamed, and let out a happy puff of air. “Yes,” he said, breathless. “Of course!”

David smiled gently, almost tiredly, which he was. He chuckled before Alex leaned down and kissed him, taking him by the shoulder. 

When he pulled up he gently wiped David’s dirty cheek with his hand. “Come on,” he said, pulling on David’s hand to help him up. “There’s so much to do!”

 

As quickly as Jordan’s death had surprised and sobered them all, the news of an upcoming wedding lifted everyone’s spirits back up higher than they had been before. However, now that another Brave had died, there would be a little more time before the wedding, as they had another funeral lined up.

This one, however, would be different from Jordan’s. A big, long platform was made by tightly fastened palm tree trunks and Gerald Laird was laid on it later the next evening. The ‘pyre’ was elevated on big rocks on the beach, a good distance away from the cemetery. 

Julio refused to do the lighting, even though it was his right, as Jason Heyward had told him after hearing all that had happened. He simply couldn’t speak the entire evening, so Jason did it for him. He brought forward a torch made by Amos as the rest of the team plus the two natives looked on in silence. Bubba clung to Gavin Floyd, digging her face into his side, and David Carpenter stood with his arms around his fiancée, Alex.

Not a word was spoken as Jason slowly and solemnly lowered the torch. 

The flames towered up several feet above the pyre, and reflected in Julio’s dark eyes like pillars of black-colored death intertwined with the warm bronze of life.

 

Gavin and Bubba walked together around the outskirts of camp the next evening as everyone was enjoying some free time.

“I just don’t understand why Gerald did what he did,” Bubba was telling Gavin, motioning with her hands. “How could he do that to Julio? He’s really young.”

Gavin sighed as he replied, “Some people have powerful urges.” He looked at Bubba. “You have to have respect for everyone. It’s that respect that keeps you from doing things like that.”

Bubba only shuddered.

“Gerald had plenty of chances to make friends with Julio in a healthier way,” Gavin told her. “They worked together a lot back in our playing days.”

“It’s too bad.” Bubba looked up at Gavin. 

Gavin looked back down at her, almost tenderly. “The bad apples are far fewer than the good ones, though, Bubba.” 

Bubba smiled. “I know.” Their pace slowed. They paused.

“Amos isn’t like that, right?” Gavin asked quietly.

Bubba paused before saying, “Not all the time.”

“But some of the time?”

She sighed. “Some of the time, he acts like he owns me. It’s mostly when he drinks that moonshine he makes when he’s upset.”

Gavin’s face took on a worried look. “What does he do?”

Bubba swallowed before saying, “He’ll force me to…to go to bed with him and do whatever else he wants.”

Gavin was silent for a moment. He turned it over in his mind. “There wasn’t anyone else besides you two on this island before we all came, right?”

“Nope.”

They walked a little more. “The wedding will be real nice, I’m sure,” Bubba said.

“Yeah.”

There was another silence as they kept walking, slowly. Gavin then asked, “He hasn’t…hurt you at all, has he? I mean Amos.”

Bubba took a deep breath before saying, “He’s definitely rough…most of the time, though, I can get over it and deal with it.”

“That’s not the way it should be, Bubba.”

Bubba sighed. “I know. But it’s just me and him in that shelter.”

“It doesn’t have to be just you and him.” Gavin then turned abruptly and faced Bubba. He took her small, delicate hands in his much larger ones, raising them slowly up closer to his chest. They made eye contact, and as Bubba raised her eyes, she breathed in deeply again. She exhaled heavily, and the two of them started drawing closer and closer to each other. 

Bubba took several slow, almost cautious steps forward until Gavin’s back came up against a tree trunk. She didn’t stop.

Their lips met, gently and softly. Gavin put a hand around Bubba’s back and Bubba squeezed Gavin’s other hand. 

Still breathing heavily, Bubba pulled back. “I’m sorry,” she blurted.

“For what?” Gavin asked quietly, pulling her back close to him. Bubba let out a puff of air and smiled. They kissed again, Bubba reaching up with some difficulty to try and get her hand around the back of Gavin’s neck. Gavin held her close, as tenderly as he could, which was quite gently. Gavin saw that there was no one else in sight, so he took Bubba gently and spun her around behind him against the tree. 

 

Several uneventful days later, as wedding preparations went on and shelters were decorated, Amos burst out of his shelter with a glorifyingly happy look on his face.

“Hey everybody, Bubba’s gonna have a baby!”

All the Braves in the vicinity looked at him, and several more poked their heads out of their shelters. Amos called back into his shelter for Bubba, and she appeared, sheepishly rubbing one arm.

“Congratulations!” Several of them came up and told her. 

“Thanks,” she said to them all at once, appearing uncharacteristically shy.

“You’re gonna be a proud poppa,” Mike Minor said to Amos. Bubba turned away from them at that. 

“Sure am. We’ve been waitin’ for the right time, and with all a y’all round here to help out, we figured, why not?”

“I, uh…me and Brandon actually have some news of our own, also.” Mike called to his husband. “We were waiting for the right time to tell everyone.”

Brandon came up. He congratulated Bubba, then practically starting bursting himself with excitement.

“We’re having a baby of our own, too!” Brandon said happily. 

“Oh my god!” Bubba cried, snapping out of her nervous mood. “How?” She asked quieter.

“I’m trans,” Brandon told her. “I can have a baby.”

Bubba gushed with excitement. “Oh my gosh!” she cried. “This is so awesome!”

Gavin Floyd came up to them. “Congratulations, Bubba,” Gavin said. He almost sounded like he was going to choke up with emotion. A good or a bad emotion, none of them could tell.

“Thanks…Gavin,” Bubba said slowly, suddenly wishing they were alone. 

Brandon spoke to Bubba then before it became too awkward, for a reason no one but Gavin or Bubba knew. “I’m so glad we’re both having kids at the same time. They’ll grow up together!”

Bubba smiled. “Yeah,” she said. 

 

The wedding was planned for the following evening. Logs were set up in rows on the beach to serve as benches and bunches of flowers were everywhere. There was an aisle where David and Alex would walk down, and Jason Heyward was off, preparing everything else with the ceremony. Several Braves were gathered at the edge of the trees, discussing what was about to go down.

“I think the beach is beautiful tonight,” Alex told the group when they saw him. He was dressed as nicely as he could be, with daisies and lilies at his neck tied to look like a bow tie. David was off discussing things with Amos. “Although, the tide could be a bit lower.”

“You sure you don’t want to get married in the clearing, right outside your shelter?” Chris Johnson asked. “That way, your honeymoon can start _immediately_!”

“Johnson!” Andrelton Simmons said, playfully slapping him. Alex chuckled under his breath. “They’re already having it at _sunset_. I think that’s close enough, don’t you?”

“And the weather looks great!” Craig Kimbrel said to Alex. He looked around for his husband. “Jonny?”  
“Wasn’t he here a second ago?” Alex asked.

“Yeah,” Craig confirmed. “Jonny!” He called again, but no one answered. “Jonny!”

Several others took notice, understanding that Jonny was missing. They all began a manhunt immediately, and all the wedding preparations were put on hold as quickly as that.

“Oh,” Alex said, wringing his hands in frustration. “What if we don’t find him in time?”

David came up to him. “It’ll be alright,” he said comfortingly. “He wouldn’t want to miss it.”

“But what if something’s _happened_ to him?”

“We’ll find him,” David said with conviction. 

Alex looked at him. “Oh, I’m not supposed to see you right before the wedding!”

David paused at that, briefly looked back at Alex, and turned around to walk away. “See ya, baby!” That made Alex laugh.

They all went off into the woods to look for the reliever, calling his name. No one had any luck for a whole hour until Craig Kimbrel returned to the beach. He was back in the spot where they had been when they first realized Jonny was gone. He sighed, and casually happened to look up.

There was Jonny, sitting high up in one of the trees, with a little monkey sitting right in front of him on a long branch.

_“Jonny Venters!”_ Craig screamed.

Jonny only smiled. “Look,” he said calmly, as if nothing were amiss, “he’s sharing it with me!”

The monkey who was sitting up there with Jonny held a banana. It had been peeled and was half-eaten. 

Craig just stood there, staring at him and fuming, while the rest of the search party came back and saw him. Everyone was collectively relieved, especially Alex. 

“We thought you were eaten!” Craig yelled. “Get down here!”

“I just made a friend, Craig,” Jonny said happily, and took the banana gently from the monkey. Then he took the monkey’s hand and they slowly started down the tree together. 

_“Jonny!”_ Craig said through his teeth.

They finally made it safely to the ground. Jonny held the monkey in one arm. He walked to Craig. “His name’s Shae.”

“I don’t really care what his name is,” Craig said quietly, and threw his arms around Jonny’s neck and kissed his lips, hard and fast. 

Shae scuttled up Jonny’s arm and climbed up on his shoulder and partly onto Craig’s arm. It surprised Craig, and he pulled back abruptly after a moment.

“He’s real nice,” Jonny said. He petted the top of Shae’s head.

“I can’t believe you,” Craig said, now breathless. He didn’t move his arm. “I was…so worried.”

Jonny only smiled at Craig. “Let’s have a wedding, shall we?”

 

It was finally time for David Carpenter and Alex Wood. Everyone gathered around and sat on the logs as David came down the aisle first. He looked radiant, with his blond hair having grown a little longer, wearing a makeshift jacket with lots of different colorful flowers attached to the front like ruffles. He was followed by Alex, who smiled like he’d never been happier in his life. Jason Heyward waited for them both at the front of the crowd where they stopped, facing each other, and took each other’s hands.

“We’re gathered here today to celebrate the union of these two Brave souls,” Jason started, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Do you, David Carpenter, take Alex Wood to be your husband, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

“I do,” David said quietly. Neither David nor Alex took their eyes off the other the whole time. 

Jason asked Alex the same thing. “I do,” he said.

“Then by the power invested in me as leader of our great team, the Atlanta Braves, I now pronounce you spouses for life!”

Alex’s smile almost melted David’s heart as he leaned in for their wedding kiss. Everyone in the crowd clapped and a few gave shouts of congratulations. David and Alex walked back down the aisle together, their arms around each other, and thanked everyone gathered. 

 

The evening was filled with the joy and celebration of a wedding, and multiple toasts were given. Music and cake and a dance floor would have been expected, but on the island, none of that was necessary for David and Alex to fully enjoy their new wedded bliss. 

Much later, after the moon had risen and the stars were shining brightly, David took Alex’s hand and they went together to their shelter. Craig and Jonny, who shared it with them, were staying with Chris Johnson and Evan Gattis for the night. 

Once they were inside, David took Alex’s other hand. The other noises from outside faded away rather quickly as David came closer to Alex. Alex smiled in the dim gleam, and David saw. He kissed him gently, their chests pressing together. They moved together further into the shelter. Alex squeezed David’s hands as they went toward the bed they shared. They sat down together at first, then they pulled apart and smiled at each other, Alex running his hands up David’s arms and then fixing them around his neck. He started to breathe heavier as David pulled Alex’s shirt up around him, then gently off over his head. They fell back to the bed, Alex kissing David while on top of him. 

 

Months passed. The Braves grew more and more accustomed to their life on the island and after David and Alex’s wedding, there weren’t any more dustups, fights, or tragedies. It seemed life was turning out to be pretty good, and it would be even better for Mike Minor and Brandon Beachy as they welcomed their new child into the world one late autumn evening. 

The more experienced Braves were gathered around as a comfortable spot was made for Brandon in his shelter. Both his hands were held and Mike was never far away as Brandon gave birth to a tiny, beautiful little baby girl. 

She had a light dusting of wispy, chocolatey-brown hair like Brandon’s, and several minutes after she was born, she opened her bright hazel eyes, which were the same color as Mike’s. Mike thought he might cry for a moment as he held the baby in his arms for the first time. Everyone jostled for a better look at her after all the other Braves who were waiting gathered around. 

Bubba also got a close look at the little girl, who was named Alice, after Brandon’s birth name. Bubba herself was also very close to giving birth. It wouldn’t be long from that time until she did. 

 

Bubba gave birth in the middle of the night, less than a couple of weeks later. Amos helped her along and was very clingy and protective the whole time. Other Braves started waking up soon after Bubba’s labor started, because she screamed out in pain with the best of them. Incidentally, Gavin Floyd was the only other person who was awake in time and who Bubba let in while she delivered her baby girl. 

Amos was the first to hold her. Bubba sighed heavily in relief. He wrapped the baby in a cloth and gently rubbed her head. He looked closer.

Bubba’s baby had some of the fairest skin of all the inhabitants of the island. Her hair was pale blond and when she opened her eyes, they were bright blue.

The baby looked nothing like Amos, who was tan with darker features.

Amos continued to stand there, staring at the baby in his arms, as the inner deviations in his mind churned. He looked at Bubba, who lay there in the bed, tightly grasping Jason Heyward’s and Gavin Floyd’s hands. His vision turned subtly to one of the Braves.

“Gavin,” he said. “Can I talk to you?”

Gavin nodded. “Sure,” he said. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered to Bubba.

When Gavin came over to him and they were out of earshot of Bubba Amos snarled at him, “This ain’t my baby.”

Gavin tried his hardest to keep a blank, puzzled face, but it was increasingly difficult. He also knew the baby’s parentage, and now, there was no way of keeping Amos from finding out. “I’m sorry,” was all he could think to say.

“You’re sorry?” Amos said mockingly. “You’re sorry? How’m I gonna explain this?”

“Does it really matter that much? Everyone will love her anyway!”

“No one will love me! Bubba’s mine, and mine alone!” Amos all too willingly surrendered the baby to Gavin when he reached for her. “No one’s got a right to-”

He paused, and Gavin gave him a puzzled look. “What?” The Brave asked.

“Oh my god,” Amos stuttered. “That baby…that baby is yours!”

“Amos, I had no intention of-”

“That baby’s yours! You had sex with my wife!”

“Bubba’s not your wife!”

By this time their shouting and threatening tones reached Bubba and the other Braves who were gathered. Several of them came over and restrained Amos, who was getting more and more provoked.

He couldn’t stop screaming, “She’s yours! She’s yours! You did Bubba and now I’m gonna do you!”

“Amos, calm down!” Jason Heyward stepped in, pulling Amos back. “Whatever’s going on, cool it!”

“That motherfucker had a baby with my wife!” Amos screamed, pointing with a shaking hand at Gavin Floyd, who still held the newborn girl. Surprised whispers spread around the room as the other Braves looked at them and realized the truth.

Before anyone could stop him Amos jerked himself away from Jason and stormed over to Bubba, who still lay in bed. “You,” he snarled down at her, “what the hell were you doin’?” He reached for her arm threateningly.

Bubba screamed. Evan Gattis, who stood nearest to them, jumped in between the two native islanders and blocked Amos from touching Bubba. Brandon Beachy rushed inside with Alice, who had started crying.

Amos tried to get past Evan, but everyone in the room knew that wasn’t going to happen. Evan ended up dragging the writhing Amos outside and showing him what for. 

Once they were gone Jason asked, “Bubba…is she really Gavin’s?” 

Bubba took a deep breath and answered quietly, eyes downcast, “Yes.”

Whispers started around the room again, but Jason silenced them quickly. “Settle down, everybody. It’s going to be alright.” He looked over to Gavin, who still held his daughter. Jason made a tiny smile. “I’m happy for you,” he said, going over to him. “I wish it was better circumstances.”

“She makes it all better,” Gavin replied, looking down at the baby, who was asleep. He went to Bubba’s side.

They shared a look. Bubba took a deep breath before saying quietly, “Let’s name her Joy. I never would have imagined this moment, and it’s the only word I can think of.”

“That sounds good to me.”

All the other Braves gathered around closer. A smile crossed every single face. They’d never felt more like a real family than they did in that moment.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm afraid I have no answer to the absolutely valid question, 'What in the heck were the Braves doing sailing the Atlantic?' It seemed like an interesting Swiss Family Robinson inspired idea, and I just decided to have fun with it.   
> Another note, Brandon Beachy being trans is a fun twist I came up with later in the writing. Given the lack of reproducing power on the island besides Bubba, I figured he would run out of male hormones and regain the capacity to get pregnant. Courtesy of my imagination.


End file.
